well, so far new york has been a blur of jet-lagged greyness and sleepy restlessness.  the flight was great, fluffy mr P (padraig, the persian cat) slept thru most of it and only once made a bid for freedom - at the x-ray bit of security, when i had to take him out to have the cat-box x-rayed.  he saw all the people and he tried to leg it.  the security guy thought this was hilarious and was pawing him making 'aww' sounds while padraig was drawing blood from my shoulder and i was looking at the x-ray machine, then to the cat-box sitting beside it, to the security guy pawing padraig and making him even more freaked.  a flat 'eh, any time you like' and yer man got on with his job.  all the stress and hassle of getting him to the vet weeks ago, to get him micro-chipped and get the vet to write a wee letter saying that he wasn't infected with disease, which was apparently absolutely essential, was of no consequence going thru customs.  it seems that you can carry anything at all in with you so long as you carry it in a bag that hangs at hip-height.. thereby screening it from the guy in the booth, whose job it is to protect the nation from disease-wielding terrorists.  great.

i'm sitting here at home writing this, in this lovely apartment.  i doubt i'll actually be able to afford such a great place when i move on in december.  it's a one-bed with a study, so it's sort of a two-bed, huge bedroom and big and bright living room; exposed brick, wooden floors throughout, blah.  massive couch that turns into a more comfortable double bed than most you've ever slept in.  spent the most of the day (after waking up at 5am, not being able to lie there, contemplating going to south ferry municipal buildings near wall st just to enjoy the spectacle of the tai chi enthusiasts doing their thing as the sun comes up and and getting up to unpack and pottering about, ringing home and ringing rory - the brother - in sydney for an hour) shopping in downtown brooklyn.  this is the downtown brooklyn black district that stayed in the 70s.  geezers in dodgy leather jackets and sean coombs sunglasses, shops with tatty signs selling cheap gik and mega-amounts of *bling*, overweight ladies in cup-cake jeans and cheap shoes, shops selling underwear and computer keyboards (in the same shop).  it reminded me of birmingham (uk), except it was missing the pall of depression and the pissy weather. so, headed off to get the essentials; buy a 'cell' phone (hilarious episode with a black ali G character in the shop my side of the counter, who turned out to be a bona fide T-mobile dealer assisting the woman doing the sales on t'other side of the counter, but who also dealt in other matters), food (too much to say about that), booze and cat food.  got all the basics and walked back.  it was a beautiful walk .. had a brief encounter with a squirrel who was collecting nuts around the base of a tree on the street.  he saw me, paused, i paused, he ran.  i got some nuts, walked over and looked up thru the branches and caught sight of him.  he stared down at me and we had a brief nature-nurture moment.  it was lovely.  i threw the nuts down on the ground for him and got looked at by a nature-deficit passer-by.  and the sun came out.  it had been misty this morning when i climbed the steps to the roof at 5am.  the dawn was in its initial stages and the skyline's contrast was blurred but you could make out the sweep of the river. it was great.  but coming home today, the rain was gone and the sun was beaming, keeping the dry winter air in the shadows.  but by the time i was heading back, i got the distinct feeling of being strung out on that too much daylight, not enough sleep vibe; the result of flying after not sleeping enough after being boozed up on a five-day bender before I left dublin. i'm staying in tonight.

on the up side, i've been sitting here listening to a cd given to me by "the legendary finbar boyle" (official title - the phoenix), by a man called michael marrinan, from enniscorthy, co clare, who sings a ballad about new york that became a mainstay for the last few months.. after i'd decided to move over here last year, i got a tad obsessive about getting back here and getting all the factors into play to make it happen.  during this time finbar gave me a copy of marrinan's cd and while it's old school irish ballad sentiment and sound, it cuts to the core like only that can.  great stuff.  if you're inclined, you'll get it in claddagh records in temple bar or online.  totally worth it for track 2 alone.  imagine a co clare ballad with a lamenting air singing about the big apple, if you can..  i quote:

anyway.  this has probably gone on long enough.  better go.

i'm out of reach at the moment as my irish mobile phone, stubborn at the best of times, now point blank refuses to send any messages from here to anyone at all.  once i get all my details from its memory banks it's being put out on the roof at dawn in a blindfold and being shot off the balcony.  video to follow on youtube.  

thinking of you all, with love from new york.